Rooney Braced For Dramatic Last Day

Wayne Rooney admits the assessment of Manchester United’s season will have to wait until after Sunday’s final Barclays Premier League fixture, with the Reds still chasing a top-four finish.

Louis van Gaal’s men must beat Bournemouth at Old Trafford and hope that Manchester City lose at Swansea City in order to finish fourth. That would secure a place in the UEFA Champions League next season and provide a major boost ahead of next weekend's FA Cup final at Wembley.

Sunday’s edition of United Review features an exclusive interview with Rooney, in which he explains why he cannot run the rule over the season just yet, given the importance of this weekend’s matches.

“At the minute I think we’re still waiting to see,” says the captain. “I think it all depends on where we finish in the league before we can properly judge how good a campaign it has been, but hopefully we can get the result we need on Sunday afternoon to guarantee us a top-four finish with the FA Cup final still to come.

"It could be a good season for us in terms of qualifying for the Champions League and winning a trophy or it could be worse if we don’t end up doing that, so we have to focus on the final league game before we look ahead to the final.”

During a wide-ranging interview that reflects on the 2015/16 campaign, taking in both the highs and the lows so far, Rooney describes the emergence of United’s young players as a major positive.

“It’s always exciting working with young players,” Wayne explains. “People forget how young Anthony Martial is. The club bought him so he hasn’t come through the Academy, but he’s still only a really young lad. He’s still learning, improving and the same goes with the likes of Memphis Depay, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard… so it’s an exciting time for the club. Hopefully they keep improving as players and it’ll be a really bright future for Manchester United.”

As a former teen sensation himself, having infiltrated Everton’s first team at the age of 16, Rooney knows exactly what emotions Rashford has experienced in his breakthrough season at United. However, he remains reluctant to offer him any advice at this fledgling period of his career.

“I think at the minute he’s a young lad and he doesn’t need that much advice from me,” Rooney points out. “Just let him play and enjoy his football. I’m sure there’ll be a time when he does need it from myself, from the manager, from Giggsy and from other players, but I think the most important thing for him and the team is to just let him go and play and enjoy it.”